young adults. While the story deals
primarily with the theme of love,
issues of identity and prejudice are
also addressed. Walton attributes her
inspirations for this intricate tale of
love and of longing to the works of
writers like Joanne Harris and Isabelle
Allende, and their influence is clearly
seen in the strong elements of magic
realism throughout. A high level of
literary artistry is apparent. Imagery
and symbolism are carefully crafted,
and characters are finely drawn.
There is some physical violence and
an incidence of sexual violence that
teenage readers will find confronting,
despite the triumphantly hopeful
concluding message. M. McEwan
USER LEVEL: Stage 6 Community
SCIS 1652297 $19.95
Leslye Walton, author of ‘The strange and
beautiful sorrows of Ava Lavender’
by Candlewick Press
The greying
SUTHERLAND, Dallas
Noveletta, USA, 2014 [The Landland
chronicles]
ISBN 9781495206962
The greying is a
fantasy novella for
students aged 9 to
13. After the death of
her mother, Meah, the
central heroine, finds
herself alone and lost in
Landland, an enchanted
realm where all manner
of wicked birds and
beasts live, under the
evil power of Queen Berilbog. Meah
harnesses the power of the thinking and
goes on a terrifying journey to find a
stolen object that may have the power to
pushing back the greying. The novella is a
gripping story and could be taught within
the English or Drama syllabuses. Fantasy
makes an interesting starting point for
building plays and students could use
the story’s metaphoric structure to
create their own plays about the human
condition. They could physically explore
key motifs, archetypal and/or flawed
characters through improvising various
scenes, or they could delve into physical
theatre and bring to life the diverse
monsters. This story lends itself to many
wonderful teaching strategies. S. Lovesy
USER LEVEL: Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
KLA:
AC; CA; English
SYLLABUS:
Creative Arts K–6;
Drama 7–10; English
7–10
SCIS 1683686 Paper $11.95
Sunker’s deep
TANNER, Lian
Allen & Unwin, NSW, 2014 (The hidden
series)
ISBN 9781743435427
An interesting fantasy
novel, Sunker’s deep
focuses on Sharkey, the
main character, learning
about his obvious
character flaws,
accepting them and
dealing with ways to
overcome the obstacles
he encounters along
the way. The novel concentrates on the
inner journey of the main character, who
is forced to realise his true potential and
worth in several unlikely circumstances.
It is particularly encouraging that Tanner
has chosen for his main male character
to draw his inspiration from a strong
female character, who is spoken about
more than seen in the story. Themes
of deception, betrayal, family and
friendship are explored, ensuring that
the reader is satisfied with the scope
of plot that Tanner has represented in
this novel. This text is appropriate for a
Stage 4 English student who is studying
character development or the topic of
fantasy in the English classroom and for
independent reading for pleasure.
J. Duvall
USER LEVEL: Stage 4
KLA:
AC; English
SYLLABUS:
English K–10
SCIS 1683226 Paper $18.99
The strange and beautiful
sorrows of Ava Lavender
WALTON, Leslye
Walker Books, UK, 2014
ISBN 9781406348088
Leslye Walton’s first
novel is unusual and
intriguing. The story
is set primarily in the
Pacific Northwest of
the United States,
which adds an extra
layer of mystery to
this clever work of
literary fiction for
2015 Volume 34, Issue 3 88
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